


In These Moments

by Mikkal



Series: Waiting for Time to Run Out [7]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Asexual!Barry, Celebrating Blackness, Fluff, Multi, No Plot, No Sex, No Smut, Realization of Feelings, Sleepy Cuddles, movie theater cuddles, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-30 22:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3954583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkal/pseuds/Mikkal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small moments with Barry and Eddie, Iris and Eddie, then Iris and Barry when they have a slight internal realization of feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In These Moments

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after _Let's Build Skyscrapers._

_Eddie/Barry_

The sun is warm on his back and he rubs his face against the pillow, too comfortable to even think about moving. It’s his day off, he’s not even on call, Iris is already gone to work, and Barry has the late shift. Today is going to be a pretty good day, he can feel it.

            He’s on the edge of the bed, the side of the mattress pressing against his ribs on the right, so he reaches out with his left, hoping to feel another body there. He groans softly when he’s met with an empty spot. He’d been hoping Barry was still asleep. Eddie’s about to get up to go look for him, but instead he finds himself dozing off again, lulled by music in the kitchen and the warmth on his back.

            This time he wakes up to hands on his back, trailing up his spine to his shoulders. Barry leans over and presses a kiss to his left shoulder, letting in linger there to say, “I made pancakes.”

            Eddie groans. “Real pancakes?”

            He laughs. “Yes, honest to God, real, buttermilk pancakes with blueberries. They’re purple. You like purple.”

            This is true, he does like purple. Blame his mom for that.

He shifts to his side, careful not to tip off the edge of the bed, and smiles up at Barry. He’s kneeling on the bed, still dressed in a tank top and sweats. His shirt has his (really Cisco made the suit, but it's Barry's) lightning symbol on it, it’s bright yellow with a white, opaque circle under it, and the rest of the shirt is a blinding red. It made Iris laugh so hard she dropped to the floor on her knees when they found a store tucked away that sold ‘hero paraphernalia.’

            “You’re so pretty,” Eddie says, trying to push as much sincerity into as he can.

And he is sincere: soft green eyes, the faintest marks of forming laugh lines that are going to be killer years down the line, an easy smile that brightens up the room, and, of course, freckles and moles that seem to be everywhere and anywhere Eddie has access to. He use to wonder if he had them in places Eddie could only dream of, but those thoughts faded away the more he got to know Barry—don’t get him wrong, he’s still unbelievably attracted to him and he can’t imagine how he got this lucky to have two gorgeous, kind-hearted, badass people in his life, but he _knows_ now and he respects, and that’s what’s important.

Barry smiles down at him, curling his knees a little closer so they’re inches from Eddie’s chest. “Am I now?”

“Have I not told you that before?”

He hums. “Maybe once or twice.” He leans down and gives him a soft kiss, letting it linger yet again. “It wouldn’t hurt to hear it again, though,” he murmurs.

“Pretty,” he breathes, letting his eyes fall half-lidded. “Gorgeous. So attractive I find myself unable to breath some times.” He pauses for a deliberately long moment then smirks. “And, of course, a fantastically fine ass.”

Barry snorts and pinches his chest. “You’re a funny guy, you know that?”

Eddie just pulls him down as he rolls to his back so Barry’s sprawled across his chest. He puts on hand on the small of his back and the other threaded through his hair. “I do,” he says smugly. “Thank you for telling me, though.”

He wrinkles his nose in over exaggerated disgust. “And very modest too.” He curls one arm over Eddie’s head on the pillow and presses his other hand to his cheek. “Also,” he says seriously. “You are very, _very_ beautiful.” He kisses him again, slow and deep and Eddie can’t help but pull him closer.

Eddie can never go farther than this, and some days it makes him sad—never disappointed, never angry, just sad that there’s a side of Barry he will never see (no one will ever see) and never get to experience when he wants to know _everything_.

            Barry pulls away for a breath and presses his nose against Eddie’s cheek. “Either we can eat the pancakes I so painstakingly made,” he says softly, breathless in the most perfect way. “Or we can lay here until I have to head to work.”

            “Both,” he replies. “Both is good.”

            He laughs. “Okay then.”

            God, he thinks he might be in love.

 

_Iris/Eddie_

The theater is almost empty except for about three other people, which makes sense considering the movie’s been out for three weeks now and it’s eleven in the morning. It’s her and Eddie this time around, Barry’s at STAR Labs for a few tests on his speed and the energy he generates when he runs. It’s not something she and Eddie need to be there for and Cisco apparently convinced Barry to see this movie back when it first came out, so none of them are missing out on anything.

            Eddie wraps an arm around her shoulders and brushes a kiss against her temple after they grab some seats in the back. It’s not a romance film, but Iris pulls up the armrest dividing them and cuddles up against this side. His fingers brush her bare shoulder, making her shiver, and she wraps her arm over his stomach.

            “Apparently this is suppose to be really good,” he comments quietly.

            “Rotten Tomatoes seems to think so,” she says. “Actual critics, not so much.”

            “Isn’t that the case most of the time any way?” Eddie says, amused. “Besides, you’re probably going to fall asleep.”

            “I am not,” she protests. Okay, she might. Time zone changes were never kind to her and she only got back from Metropolis yesterday morning. She might need a little bit more time.

            He tightens his grip around her, securing her even closer. “Yep, keep telling yourself that.”

            She laughs and stretches up to kiss him, pushing every ounce of her adoration and love into it. He responses in kind, kissing her deeply in that way that makes her toes curl and fire to start burning. Iris pulls away and wonders if they’d get in trouble is she curled up on his lap. Nothing more than cuddling, exhibitionism isn’t their thing and never will be, but she suddenly wants to be _close_ to him.

            Oh, fuck it.

            Eddie lets out a surprised laugh when she moves. She twists around so she can rest her feet on her seat and she slides onto Eddie’s lap, resting her head on his shoulder and securing her arm around his neck. If he were to stand up right now he could wrap his arm under his her knees and another around her back and he could carry her off no problem.

            He noses her temple, his breath hot on her ear. “How did I get so lucky?”

            “That’s an excellent question,” she says, half-jokingly. “I’m not entirely sure. Your good looks? Your stunning personality?” She reaches up with her free hand to trail her fingers across his cheek. “Maybe I like the way you look at me, like I’m the answer to life.” She kisses him slowly. “Maybe I like the way you make me feel and I like to think I make you feel the same way.”

            Eddie makes a sound deep in his chest and wraps his arms around her waist, holding her so close they don’t feel like separate people. He tucks his face in the juncture of her neck and shoulder, sucking in air like he’d forgotten how to breathe.

            Iris leans her cheek on the crown of his head. How did he get so lucky? How did _she_ get so lucky?

            Love is a good feeling, she decides. A fantastic one, in fact.

 

                        _Barry/Iris_

His stomach growls loudly and painfully. Barry glances at the clock then back to all the data he has to run through his systems. It’s not something super speed can help with and while some of them he can leave running while he got food, some of them he can’t because they have different steps and prompts at varying times.

            This one of many days he wish he didn’t forget to grab lunch. He could run home and make his own lunch right this very second and be back in the blink of an eye, but Eddie’s not going shopping until tonight. It’s his turn to get the groceries this week. He doesn’t want to use the rest of the lunchmeat and leave either Iris or Eddie hanging if they wanted something after their shifts.

            “Knock, knock.”

            Barry turns around to see Iris standing at the door of his lab, looking gorgeous as ever. “Hey you,” he says with a smile. Every time he sees her, the air leaves his lungs. It’s still hard to believe that they’re together. “What’s up?”

            She pulls her arm from behind her back and waves a bag of Big Belly Burger in the air with a satisfied grin on her face. “You forgot lunch,” she says.

            “You are amazing,” he says sincerely. “Absolutely amazing. My guiding star in the night.”

            Iris laughs, blushing prettily. She sets the bag on his desk, pulling up another chair, and leaning on her hand. She’s gazing at him intently, like he’s the only person in the world at this very moment. It makes him feel both self-conscious and incredibly flattered at the same time.

            He ignores the lunch for a moment to boing one of Iris’ curls. “You finished,” he comments. It’s full of ringlets, like a princess in a fairy tale.

The last time she had her hair like this was in middle school, back before she begged Joe to let her start relaxing her hair because she hated how curly her hair was and how unmanageable she thought it was. She’d mentioned about a year ago she was going back to natural and had been working on it for a while now, but it was hard to tell the process since she she wore a weave so she didn’t have to do the Big Chop.

He loved her hair before, he loved her hair then, he loves her hair now. But it doesn’t matter what he thinks.

“You like it?” he asks.

She nods, smiling in a way that makes her face scrunch up in pure adorableness. “I do,” she says. “I love it.”

“It’s gorgeous.” He grips her wrist gently and leans over to kiss her deeply. He grins into the kiss when she responses with stark enthusiasm. “ _You’re_ gorgeous. How did I get so lucky?”

“You know,” she says when she pulls away. She licks her bottom lip and smirks when she realises he followed the movement. He may not want more than just kissing, but he certainly craves her closeness like a starved man. “Eddie asked me the same thing.”

He hums and twists in his chair so they’re more face to face. “I wonder why,” he says, grinning. “I like to think the three of us have excellent taste.” He cups her face with his hands, brushing his thumb over her cheek. “You’re stunning and smart. Quick witted and you don’t take shit, not even from the super-scary Oliver Queen. So, yes, I’m very lucky and fortunate to have you in my life.” In any capacity, he adds mentally.

She laughs, it’s just a huff of air but he melts all the same. “I’m telling Oliver you think he’s super-scary.”

“I’m going to regret that last compliment, aren’t I? Maybe I should’ve said super-scary Thea Queen? I’m okay with Thea knowing I’m scared of her. Oh, oh. Laurel. Laurel Lance is a terrifying woman and I would not want to meet her in a dark alley even with my powers.” That gets her to laugh again and he loves it.

And he loves her. This isn’t new, but it’s different. This time Eddie’s here, in his thoughts, in his life, in his love. This time he realises this isn’t some childhood crush he needs to confess to before it overwhelms him and keeps him from moving forward.

No, this is real. This is a love that lasts. This is a love that _pushes_ him forward.

**Author's Note:**

> I am white, like super white, so if any one can spot me saying something wrong when Iris goes natural, let me know pretty please and I will change it right away even if I'm at work.


End file.
